Span (half a cubit): about 9 inches (about 23 centimetres)

Ex 28:16 pp Ex 39:9The span was the width of the outstretched hand from thumb to little finger. See also1Sa 17:4 Goliath’s height is given in the Hebrew as “six cubits and a span”; Ps 90:10 The span is here used figuratively of the shortness of human life; Eze 43:13

Reed (6 cubits): about 10 feet (about 3 metres)

Mile

Mt 5:41The Greek word for “mile” here is “milion”, a transliteration of the Roman measurement “mille passuum”, “a thousand paces”. See alsoLk 24:13 The measurement in the Greek is “sixty stadia”. Eight stadia were about one mile (about 1480 metres); Jn 6:19 The measurement in the Greek is “twenty-five or thirty stadia”; Jn 11:18 The measurement in the Greek is “fifteen stadia”.

See also

Dictionary of Bible Themes Scripture index copyright Martin H. Manser, 2009. As Editor, Martin Manser wishes to thank all those who compiled or edited the NIV Thematic Study Bible, on which this work is based.